It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the Mesdames of Mayhem and their latest anthology, The 13^th Letter. Eleven years ago, two separate writing critique groups in Toronto came together to form the Mesdames of Mayhem, the brainchild of Madeleine Harris-Callway and Donna Carrick, with the purpose of pooling their talent and promoting the work of women authors. Originally, there were thirteen women writers in total, so naturally their first anthology was calle Thirteen. Since then, they’ve grown to twenty-four authors stretched across Canada – and they now include three Messieurs. Many of the writers belong to Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime.

Authors helping authors. That’s what it’s all about.

Title: The 13^th Letter

About the book: The Mesdames chose “M”, the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, as the theme for their sixth anthology. It begins so many wicked words: malice, Machiavelli, malfeasance, and of course, murder. Twenty-two authors have let loose their imaginations to create deviously crafted tales, using “M” or literally, a thirteenth letter, as their inspiration. Most of their stories are light-hearted but a few shade into noir.

About the Authors: Cathy Astolfo, Rosemary Aubert, Jane Burfield, Melodie Campbell, Donna Carrick, Lisa DeNikolits, Cathy Dunphy, Cheryl Freedman, Madeleine Harris Callway, Marilyn Kay, Blair Keetch, Sylvia Maultash Warsh, Rosemary McCracken, Cat Mills, Lynne Murphy, Mary Patterson, Ed Piwowarczyk, Ros Place, Lorna Poplak, Madonna Skaf, Caro Soles, Kevin Thornton, Melissa Yi.

Over the years, their collections have garnered a Crime Writers of Canada award for Best Story as well as three nominations for awards, plus a Derringer nomination. They’ve even had a critically acclaimed CBC documentary made about them by filmmaker Cat Mills who was named an honorary Madame for her work: Meet the women who love murder | The Mesdames of Mayhem – YouTube.

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